On May 3, Constitution Memorial Day, Prime Minister Abe Shinzō issued a decisive call for constitutional reform, conveying his determination to see a revised Constitution come into force by the year 2020. With the ruling Liberal Democratic Party gearing up to submit a draft to the Diet this coming fall, we examine some of the key issues and assess Abe’s chances of presiding over the first constitutional revision since 1946.

As part of its ongoing effort to place the Japanese economy on a sustainable growth trajectory, the government of Prime Minister Abe Shinzō has drawn up a plan for “work-style reform” aimed at limiting overtime, reducing wage disparities, and encouraging more active workforce participation by women and seniors. But what will it really take to wean employers from practices that most of Japanese society takes for granted? In this series, analysts assess the reform plan released at the end of last March and assess the prospects for meaningful change.

As young people from Japan’s regions continue to migrate to big cities, birthrates are declining, the average age increasing, and population dwindling in the areas they leave behind. Prime Minister Abe Shinzō has set regional revival as a key policy area to address, but centralized government initiatives will hardly be enough to keep nonurban communities alive. This series examines some local efforts and considers viable options to ensure a brighter future for those communities.

The Diet is expected to pass a special one-time law allowing Emperor Akihito to abdicate now that the ruling coalition and opposition parties have reached agreement on the sensitive issue. In this series we look at different aspects of the abdication question, including how lawmakers and other have approached the emperor’s desire to step down and historical paths for succession.

The election of Donald J. Trump as leader of the world’s most powerful nation has cast a pall of uncertainty over the global community. In this series, experts in various fields look at strategies for Japan and other countries going forward in dealing with a US president who has promised to rewrite the rule book.

On March 11, 2011, a giant tsunami slammed into the east coast of northern Japan, killing 18,000 and triggering the second-worst nuclear accident in history. Five years and ¥26 trillion yen later, the government's reconstruction plan is nearing the halfway point. We mark the fifth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake with exclusive reports on the progress of recovery and the daunting obstacles that remain.

The Japanese government has been setting forth a series of bold reform plans for the nation’s universities, including the selection of Super Global Universities, change to the entrance system, and reorganization of humanities departments. At the same time, Japan’s universities are scrabbling for ways to meet growing challenges, including globalization, transformations in the structures of industry, and the declining birthrate.

In September 2015, the government secured enactment of its national security legislation despite ongoing protests outside the Diet. The Democratic Party of Japan, the top opposition party, allied itself with the protest movement as it tried to block passage of the controversial legislation. This series looks at the DPJ’s approach and media coverage for clues to the future of Japanese politics and society.

In June this year, the Financial Services Agency and the Tokyo Stock Exchange released a Corporate Governance Code, touting principles like “disclosure” and “transparency.” A few weeks later, the CEO of Toshiba resigned over a massive accounting scandal stretching back years. Can Japanese business restore faith in the stock market while meeting the challenges of nimble and responsible corporate governance?

The graying of Japanese society has progressed to the point where nearly 27% of the population is now aged 65 or older. While an expanding elderly market is creating new business opportunities, concerns about old-age insolvency are also spreading. This series presents a portrait of Japan’s hyper-aged society through consumption data for the elderly, their diversifying needs, and the distribution industry’s strategies in the senior market.